NBA London expansion team’s $1bn offer from consortium behind Hundred cricket investors

American technology billionaire Nikesh Arora is in talks to buy the new London team in the NBA’s European expansion, according to sources with knowledge of the deal who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the sale talks are still ongoing.

Arora, who led the consortium that purchased English cricket’s most lucrative franchise in the Hundred competition, has assembled a consortium of investors prepared to offer more than $1 billion (£740million) for the London side, which is among the most highly prized of the new teams.

The 58-year-old is the chief executive of New York cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks and last year led Cricket Investor Holdings Limited — a consortium widely known as “Tech Titans” — to the acquisition of 49 per cent of the Lords-based London Spirit cricket franchise last year in a deal worth £145million.

The NBA has targeted the latter half of 2027 as the launch of the inaugural NBA Europe season, which is proposed to start with 16 teams — 12 licensed clubs and four teams earning their way into the competition.

In March, The Athletic reported that the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), would submit a bid for a new London-based team; Qatar Sports Investments, which owns soccer’s Paris Saint-Germain, would submit one for a new team in Paris; and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital, which owns Italian soccer club AC Milan, would submit a bid for a new team in Milan.

More than 120 prospective investors submitted declarations of interest in the first round, according to league office figures. Bids ranged from $500 million to $1 billion and several above the $1 billion mark.

NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said in a statement to The Athletic in April: “The level of engagement and the scale of the bids reflect the marketplace’s belief in our proposed model and the enormous, untapped potential for European basketball.

“We will now review the bids in more detail and shortlist the partners who share our vision and commitment to accelerating the growth of the game across the continent.”

The list of bidders includes existing European clubs, including teams in EuroLeague — the current top European basketball competition.